What could I possibly be talking about when I say you don’t need a tennis court to practice.
Well if you have a full length mirror at home, you can practice
most of your strokes without even having to leave the house.
You’d be surprised at how mirror practice can help you understand
stroking mechanics and refresh your memory about the fundamental of
your strokes at times when you have few opportunities to play.
For example:
1) Check your grip and where are your feet, they should be facing
the mirror starting off.
2) Pivot on your right foot (if right handed), turn your shoulders
and bring the racquet back to the proper back swing position.
3) Is your foot at a 45 degree angle?
4) Check your back swing, is the racquet not more than a few inches
above the level of your wrist?
5) Make sure you haven’t over rotated your shoulders. Can you see
your left shoulder blade?
6) Begin your forward stroke. Stop the racquet at point of contact.
Are you shifting your weight to your forward foot?
7) Check the face of your racquet. Is it tilted up, which would be open or down, which would be closed? Make sure you turn your wrist until the hitting surface is square to the ball.
Continue the follow through. Your grip of the racquet should be about even with your left shoulder. Your chest should be left of square to the mirror with your arm blocking your view of your shoulder. Have you finished with your racquet high?
You can adapt mirror practice to all your strokes, checking each
aspect of the shot against the mirror.
